As his voice quivered, and he openly wept, West struggled to finish the song.

The Grammy audience was near silent as West serenaded his deceased mother, and sang how his real life wouldn’t begin until he fell asleep and was united with his mother in his dreams.

Seven years later West would again honor his mother with the song “Only One,” a tribute to his newly born daughter sung from the perspective of his mother, who the very religious West believes continues to watch over his family from heaven.